NMPA Indian Open of Surfing 2026: Kamali, Sugar, Ishita advance to semi finals

Mangaluru: The seventh edition of the NMPA Indian Open of Surfing got underway at the Blue Bay Tannirbhavi Eco Beach in Mangaluru on Friday, with surfers from across the country taking to the waves on the opening day of one of India’s premier surfing competitions.

Serving as a key stop in the National Championship series and an important event in India’s Asian Games selection cycle, the championship began under good surfing conditions, with clean waves and favourable weather providing a stage for the top surfers.

In the Women’s Open category, Kamali Moorthy, Sugar Shanthi Banarse, Ishita Malaviya, Devi Ramanathan, Saanvi Hegde and Shrishti Selvam advanced to the semi-finals, scheduled for the final day of the championship on May 31.

The championship was inaugurated in the presence of former minister Abhayachandra Jain, DC Darshan H V, Tourism department deputy director Dilip Kumar, Vice President, Surfing Federation of India Rammohan Paranjape and others.

Competition on the opening day featured action across the Men’s Open, Women’s Open, Under-18 Boys and Under-14 Boys divisions. While the Men’s Open category completed its opening round across 12 heats, the Women’s Open competition progressed through the quarter-final stage. The junior categories also witnessed intense competition, with the Under-18 Boys division contesting its opening-round heats and the newly introduced Under-14 Boys category advancing through the quarter-finals.

The day began with the Men’s Open category, where 45 surfers competed across 12 heats in a battle for qualification. The top two surfers from each heat progressed to Round 2, scheduled for Saturday.

Among the standout performers were Kishore Kumar (12.90), Ramesh Budihal (12.57), Tayin Arun (12.10), Sanjaikumar S (11.84), Ajeesh Ali (11.74), Akilan S (11.66), Sivaraj Babu (11.33), Sanjay Selvamani (11.33), Harish M (10.27), Srikanth D (9.33), Ruban V (7.93) and Som Sethi (7.30).

The Women’s Open quarter-finals saw Tamil Nadu’s Kamali Moorthy emerge as the highest scorer of the day across all categories with an impressive score of 13.83. Goa’s Sugar Shanthi Banarse followed closely with 11.00 as both surfers secured their places in the semi-finals with their performances and manoeuvring skills in the challenging conditions.

Joining them in the semi-finals are Ishita Malaviya (6.40), Devi Ramanathan (5.90), Saanvi Hegde (5.37) and Shrishti Selvam (5.33).

The Surfing Juniors Under-18 Boys category also saw exciting action as 19 surfers competed across six heats for a place in the quarter-finals. Surfers who secured qualification included Harish P (12.67), Tayin Arun (10.33), Som Sethi (9.93), Pradeep Pujar (9.07), Prahlad Sriram (8.60), Sheik Davudh S (6.93), Yogesh A (6.33), Raju Suresh Pujar (5.63), Praveen Pujar (4.40), Harus Mohaiyadeen (3.63), Sanku Karthek (3.07) and Akash Pujar (2.57).

The opening day concluded with the quarter-finals of the newly introduced Surfing Juniors Under-14 Boys category. Harish P (11.33), Sheik Davudh S (6.67), Yogesh A (6.50), Prahlad Sriram (5.43), Prashanth (4.53), Mukhesh (3.70), Likhith Salian (2.67) and Ishant K. Sateesh (2.07) secured their places in the semi-finals scheduled for Saturday.

Saurabh Verma, Manager, Athlete Relations, Sports Authority of India, said, “The growth of surfing in India over the last few years has been remarkable.”